<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Down the Rabbit Hole by 7_wonders</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25583662">Down the Rabbit Hole</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/7_wonders/pseuds/7_wonders'>7_wonders</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Who Could Ever Learn to Love a Beast? [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>House of Cards (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:08:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,817</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25583662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/7_wonders/pseuds/7_wonders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You make a decision about your stay at the enchanted manor, but at what cost?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Duncan Shepherd &amp; Reader, Duncan Shepherd/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Who Could Ever Learn to Love a Beast? [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679569</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Down the Rabbit Hole</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div class="">
  <p>Mallory sneaks you food an hour or so after the Beast’s rage left you in tears. Incredibly grateful for the meal (”sorry it’s just bread and soup,” Mallory had said, “I’ll try and get you more later.”), the rage that’s been slowly building in you since the encounter spills over while you’re eating.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Do you have any particular attachment to him?” you ask, receiving nothing but a snort in response. “Okay, good. What the fuck is wrong with him? Like, what gives him the right to act like that?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Although you can’t see Mallory, you just know that she agrees with you as she attempts to form an answer. “I know that wasn’t the best first impression of him, but-”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“‘But’ what? Because it certainly doesn’t seem like there’s any redeeming qualities to him.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Mallory sighs, trying very hard to not agree with you. “I promise he’s not always like that. Once you’ve both had the chance to calm down, you’ll see that he’s...”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What, even more of a jackass than he already is?” Scoffing, you move off of the bed to stare forlornly out the window at the rain falling outside.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I know he didn’t do anything to help his case, but when you get to know him, he really is a nice person.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You whirl around to face Mallory’s voice, an idea forming in the meantime. “I don’t <em>want</em> to get to know him! I don’t even want to be here! I want to finish this stupid sentence, go home, and forget all about this nightmare.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I know you don’t, and I’m so sorry that you are. But it’s only a couple of months, alright? Trust me when I say that the time will go by in the blink of an eye.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>A flush of shame comes over you as you remember that, no matter how terrible this situation is for you, Mallory’s been dealing with the same one for much longer. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It’s alright, I know today has been stressful for you.” The weight of a hand comes down on your shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. You <em>really</em> wish you could see Mallory right now. “I’ll leave you alone to decompress, okay?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Okay,” you say. It’s still trippy to watch the tray of food look as though it’s floating through the air, and you can’t see yourself ever getting used to that. Once the door closes and you have a moment to yourself, your earlier train of thought returns. You don’t <em>have</em> to get used to it. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The room which has been designated as yours is only on the second floor, and it doesn’t look to be that high up from the ground. With the multitude of blankets on the bed that is supposed to be yours, you can very easily make a rope to reach the bottom. Mallory may have said that everybody was trapped here, but that surely just applies to the house and everybody who’s now invisible. After all, Jim was thrown out with no problems. If you can just escape the manor, then you can find your way back to the main road and be home free. It’s a simple plan, but you need to act <em>now</em> before someone comes to check on you again. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Ripping the blankets onto the floor, you hastily begin to knot the ends together until they start to form a makeshift rope. Thankfully, the closet in the corner is more than stocked for when you run out of your original material, and it becomes long enough to make it across the room and out the window. You use the bedpost as an anchor, wrapping one end of the rope around the wood and tying it together before giving it a couple of good yanks to make sure it can support your weight. Once you’re sure that you won’t fall and break something due to the rope breaking (you can’t be sure that you won’t fall, but at least it won’t be from the rope), you lead it to hang out of the window.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The rain pelts your skin like a bunch of small, icy knives the moment you lean out of the window to check the height. Pulling your hood up over your head, you give one last glance at the room that very well could have been your prison, were you not so determined. “Adios, motherfucker,” you mutter before hiking a leg up over the windowsill and beginning to climb down the side of the wall.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You were right; it wasn’t that far of a climb to get to the bottom. When your feet hit the ground, you immediately begin to move, no time to stop and wax poetic about your current situation. The shadows provide cover for you as you stick close to the wall, body on high alert for any potential obstacles. You break into a run upon reaching the front of the manor, the lights at your back becoming fainter as you get further from the prison.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Unfortunately, what seemed like an easy plan becomes more complicated by the second. What was a mildly irritating rain at first becomes a torrential downpour, soaking through your clothes and making it impossible to see more than a couple of feet in front of you. If you had thought you were cold when you were hiking to find Jim, you must not have known true cold. You’re freezing, and even shoving your hands in your pockets doesn’t help to stave off what is bound to become frostbite. Somehow, even impending hypothermia isn’t the worst of your problems.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You can’t reach the edge of the property. The closer you get, the farther away the bridge you had crossed less than a day before seems to become. No matter how fast you run, or which way you try to approach the edge, you can’t get there. An hour must pass before your willpower finally runs out, falling to your knees in a mixture of exhaustion and defeat. You try to haul yourself back to your feet, but can only manage to roll onto your back. Your teeth are chattering hard enough that you almost worry you’ll crack a tooth, but you can’t seem to find the energy to care.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>A break in the clouds allows you to see up at the night sky. The moon is a crescent, but it’s huge, sitting above you like a beacon for wayward sailors and animals migrating. Dully, you realize that this is the same moon that Jim’s seeing. Wherever he is, he’s safe; your sacrifice won’t be in vain. Nothing, not even death, can separate you from your best friend. It’s a comforting thought, and your blue-tinged lips turn up into a smile.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Of course, you aren’t even allowed to go gentle into that good night. A large hand that’s more of a paw than a hand digs into the fabric of your jacket, hauling you up and over a shoulder. Although your eyelashes are frozen, you can still see that there’s an actual figure carrying you. A pair of fierce blue eyes look up when they sense you looking down at him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Shit,” you mutter through teeth that are still chattering.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah, ‘shit.’“ Although his voice is still deep and growly, it lacks the immense anger it had previously held.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I--”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Just shut up until I can get you warmed up again.” You heed his words, choosing instead to try and soak up as much of his body heat as you can. He’s like a furnace, and you would actually be enjoying this were you not on the verge of freezing to death.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You’re back in the manor in the blink of an eye, or at least far faster than when you were trying to escape. The Beast brings you into a large sitting room, setting you on a couch that’s already piled with blankets. Ignoring you, he goes to work at starting a fire in the fireplace, giving you time to look him over in the light for the first time.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He’s smaller than you had originally thought, his voice making him appear eight feet tall. In reality, he’s probably around six feet tall. His unkempt brown hair, in desperate need of a cut, looks more like fur now. A pair of shiny black horns jut out from the top of his head, and you can see the claws on his hands as he strikes a match. Everything about him, all the way down to his tattered rags that were once clothes, is beastly, except for those eyes. They’re the one thing about him that reminds you that, at one time, he was human.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Take your clothes off,” he speaks up, jarring you from your daze.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You’re not even going to buy me dinner first?” you joke, numb fingers fumbling with the zipper of your jacket regardless.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“They’re wet. You’ll warm up faster without them on.” Thankfully, he remains facing the fire, giving you the opportunity to strip until you’re in just your bra and panties. Throwing a blanket over your body, you clear your throat to let him know that you’re semi-decent. “Come over here.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Why?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He glares at you. “Because I said so. Bring the blankets, too.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You have to awkwardly crawl/shuffle towards the fire, but it’s worth it. You can almost feel the ice locking your joints in position melting, and you audibly sigh. The Beast begins to pile more blankets on top of you, and slowly, the chattering begins to subside.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I have to admit, your makeshift rope certainly impressed me.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You laugh slightly, still remaining acutely aware of who’s next to you. “Why couldn’t I...?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“The curse. Nobody can leave the land once you’re trapped here.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“But Jim was able to leave.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You took his place, (Y/N).”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You know my name?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He nods. “I heard Jim yell it enough to have it painfully engraved in my memory.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You scoff, but have to admit that Jim has a way of making sure people don’t forget what he says. “Okay, but the three month prison sentence. Who decides how long people are stuck here for?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The Beast glowers, and you know you’ve struck a nerve. “You should rest. Your stupidity put you through quite the ordeal tonight.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He’s right, you probably should rest. You lay down on your side, huddled up towards the fire as you glance up at the Beast. “I’m really not supposed to fall asleep when recovering from something like near-hypothermia.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I know.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You smile, snuggling under the blankets and closing your eyes. “Just, if I do stop breathing, promise me you’ll make some halfhearted effort to save me.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>With that, you fall asleep, the captor who’s just as trapped as you keeping watch over you until the fire’s nearly died out and the soft rays of dawn begin to peek through the windows.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>